Video: A wreath-laying ceremony was held on Tuesday at the UN headquarters in New York to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold. (Xinhua)
"As we look ahead to a new session of the General Assembly, let us draw inspiration from Dag Hammarskjold's life and work. Let us find strength in our common humanity and together confront the challenges of our troubled world," says Antonio Guterres.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- A wreath-laying ceremony was held on Tuesday at the UN headquarters in New York to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold.
"We come together to honor the life of Dag Hammarskjold, 61 years after his tragic death. We remember a man of extraordinary wisdom and modesty; enormous courage and curiosity; unshakable integrity and selfless devotion to duty," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the ceremony.
"Dag Hammarskjold's legacy shapes our United Nations to this day -- as a force for peace, an impartial broker, a guardian of human rights, and a beacon of hope. His insights have stood the test of time, and his legacy is timeless," he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) lays a wreath at a ceremony commemorating the 61st anniversary of the death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 13, 2022. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
Guterres called for solidarity among UN member states in the context of the upcoming high-level week of the new session of the UN General Assembly by quoting Hammarskjold: "Our world of today is more than ever before, one world. The weakness of one is the weakness of all, and the strength of one is the strength of all."
The 77th session of the General Assembly will start later on Tuesday and the high-level week will start a week later.
"As we look ahead to a new session of the General Assembly, let us draw inspiration from Dag Hammarskjold's life and work. Let us find strength in our common humanity and together confront the challenges of our troubled world," said Guterres.
Hammarskjold, the second UN secretary-general, died on Sept. 18, 1961, in a plane crash en route to cease-fire negotiations in Africa. The circumstances of the plane crash are subject to UN investigation.
Hammarskjold was the youngest person to have held the post of UN secretary-general. He was only 47 when he was appointed and he died tragically at the age of 56. ■
